Re: RFC 109 (v1) Less line noise - let's get rid of @%

[Michael Fowler]

On Tue, Aug 15, 2000 at 05:10:34PM -0400, Dan Sugalski wrote:
> The ultimate target of a program's source code is the *programmer*. 
> Programmers, being people (well, more or less... :), work best with symbols 
> and rich context. Stripping contextual clues out of code does the 
> programmer a disservice. We're at the point where we don't have to cater to 
> the limitations of the computer hardware. That means we'll be better off if 
> we cater to the limitations (and strengths!) of people's wetware.
> 
> Let's not move backwards and force people to work like machines. Instead, 
> lets force machines to work like us.

Exactly!

I would also like to remind everyone that, despite abandoning backwards
compatibility with programs, we should by no means abandon backwards
compatibility with Perl programmers.  Removing the special symbols would be
quite a shock to most Perl programmers (including me), and we don't want to
alienate those who know Perl.

I say these things for purely selfish reasons; I like Perl, and want it to
look much the same as it does now.  Perl is a wonderful language.


Michael
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